“This report shows private student loan lenders are providing loans responsibly to our country’s students. Thanks to commonsense underwriting by lenders, there have been positive trends in private loan performance over the past 5 years; most notably only 3 percent of private loan borrowers are seriously delinquent on their payment obligations. In contrast, federal student loan default rates continue to rise at an unconscionable rate. With over $1 trillion in outstanding federal student loan debt, students -- and the taxpayers who foot the bill -- are done a great disservice when defaults occur. The federal government, with leadership from the CFPB, should learn from the long-standing best practices the private student loan market has used to best serve our nation’s students.”

About CBA
The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) is the trade association for today's leaders in retail banking - banking services geared toward consumers and small businesses. The nation's largest financial institutions, as well as many regional banks, are CBA corporate members, collectively holding two-thirds of the industry's total assets. CBA’s mission is to preserve and promote the retail banking industry as it strives to fulfill the financial needs of the American consumer and small business.